Grant: Operating Grant: Programmatic Grants in Food and Health - LOI

The environments in which people live, work, and play have an important role in determining their health, including obesity, diabetes and nutrition. The goal of our research is to understand and model how the introduction of several community-based food programs impact the health of individuals and families (in particular diabetes and obesity). Our proposed research will study over a period of five years the impacts of 1) one large food intervention (the Good Food Junction grocery store) and, 2) a series of other medium and small food and nutrition programs. The Good Food Junction, when it opens in summer 2012, will be a 4900 sq ft full-service not-for-profit grocery store containing a full range of fresh, frozen and packaged foods. It is located in a low-income food desert neighbourhood in Saskatoon's inner city. The other programs we will study include some within the Good Food Junction - such as nutrition education and food pricing changes - and at least three others. In addition, we will conduct an analysis of policies that impact food access, availability and quality in cities and beyond. The Good Food Junction will be newly opened when this program of research begins and we intend to study its effects on the community from implementation until at least four years after opening. This research presents a unique opportunity to study and understand how transformation occurs from a food desert with poor health outcomes to neighbourhoods with healthy food and healthy citizens. This research is timely, as organizations in cities across Canada are following the development of the Good Food Junction closely because they are also seeking solutions to issues of food access and poor nutrition in low-income neighbourhoods.